Job Seekers Continue to Shift Towards the Internet
KANSAS CITY (PRNewswire), October 14, 2007 - Job seekers are steadily increasing their use of the internet as a key part of their job search, The Conference Board has reported. In the most recent survey of workers who searched for a job between January and September 2007, 73 percent reported using the internet compared to 66 percent of job seekers in the same time period in 2005.
"The Internet has become the most popular method of job searching," said Gad Levanon, Economist at The Conference Board. "Newspapers are still popular as a major job search method, but job seekers reported using them less, dropping from 75 percent to 65 percent between 2005 and 2007."
Most job seekers continue to use more than one method in searching for a job. Online and print ads were not mutually exclusive and are still the most frequently used methods of exploring job openings. However, over half (51%) of job seekers reported networking through friends and colleagues as part of their job search. About one quarter (24%) responded that they used other methods, such as employment agencies.
The research shows that the Internet is being used for a variety of job search functions, from gathering employer/job information (59 percent of job seekers), submitting resumes and applications (57 percent), to posting resumes on a website (40 percent), and signing up for email notifications (30 percent).
In September 2007, there were 4,270,000 online advertised job vacancies according to The Conference Board Help-Wanted OnLine Data Series(TM) (HWOL). There were 2.78 advertised vacancies online for every 100 persons in the labor force in September. The HWOL data series reports monthly on the sum of the number of unduplicated online job vacancies.
The data on job search methods is based on a nationally representative sample of 5,000 households surveyed monthly for The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index and is conducted on behalf of The Conference Board by TNS.
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New Jobs Data Shows Unemployment Rising Among Least Educated Americans
KANSAS CITY (PRNewswire-USNewswire), October 7, 2007 - Following the first federal minimum wage hike in nearly a decade, the U.S. Labor Department reported an increase in overall unemployment in September, with the most significant increase occurring among the least educated Americans. And as the overall labor market participation rate rose, vulnerable groups like African-American teens and high school dropouts saw their participation rates decrease.
"Politicians continue to ignore the overwhelming evidence that minimum wage hikes increase unemployment among economically vulnerable groups like high school dropouts and African American teens," said Dr. Jill Jenkins, Chief Economist at the Employment Policies Institute. "Mandated wage hikes price many low-skilled Americans out of the job market. As last month's figures show, many have just stopped looking for employment."
High school dropouts saw a sharp increase in unemployment, up 10 percent from August. Their unemployment rate is up 1 percent from last year at this time and is over one and a half times the national average.
Overall labor market participation increased 2 tenths of a percentage point in September. But among African American teens and high school dropouts, participation rates declined by 1 tenth and 2 tenths, respectively.
Two prominent advocates for the increase in the federal minimum wage, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert and Economic Policy Institute economist Jared Bernstein, have both recently admitted that declining employment among low-skilled Americans can be explained in part by diminished employment opportunities.
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Mortgage Crisis Could Create Talent Gridlock
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